UNDATED: The third USS Cincinnati sailing down the East River, from the Brooklyn, N.Y., Navy Yard, enroute to seas for her final speed trials off the coast of Maine. This ship served in World War II. Archive

The US Navy will christen a new combat ship, the USS Cincinnati, Saturday and city councilman David Mann will be on hand at the Austal USA Shipyard in Mobile, Alabama.

The USS Cincinnati is an "Independence-class" littoral combat ship designed to work close to shore and travel up to 51 mph. The ship is the seventh of its class in the US Navy fleet.

The ship also sports two 29,500 horsepower turbine engines assembled, inspected and tested at GE Aviation's Evendale plant. A GE representative will attend the ceremony Saturday.

Mann served in the Navy from 1961 to 1965. Mann will take a key to the city and a letter from Mayor John Cranley along with mementos about the previous ships that bore the USS Cincinnati name, the first commissioned for the Civil War. These items will be welded to the ship.

"I'm excited to see what a modern ship looks like," Mann said.

He served on the USS English, which ran on steam and was crewed by 250 people. The new USS Cincinnati is a longer ship and crewed by only 40 sailors.

"We had a lot sailors dedicated to running the boilers," Mann said. He said before the ship could move, the crew had to spend four hours lighting the boilers and getting everything heated up.

Mann said his time in the Navy was an "amazing period of personal growth."

The futuristic trimaran – three-hulled – ship is the fifth warship to carry the Cincinnati name.

The first USS Cincinnati was an ironclad river gunboat commissioned in 1862. It sunk twice in battle and raised each time. It was sold in 1866.

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USS Cincinnati (C-7) was a protected cruiser in service from 1894 to 1919. The crew of this ship adopted a goat from the Cincinnati Zoo as a mascot. This ship was scrapped and pieces of it were used to build the next USS Cincinnati.

The USS Cincinnati (CL-6) was a light cruiser commissioned in 1924, on patrols in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II. The crew of this ship forced the scuttling of the German ship Annaliese Essberger and took 62 prisoners in November 1942.

Later the ship served in the Mediterranean Sea aiding the invasion of Southern France. It was scrapped in 1946, but the bell and other items from the ship were saved by the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Construction at the library has forced the relics to be removed from view, but they should be back on display this summer.

USS Cincinnati (SSN-693) was a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine in service from 1978 to 1996. Pieces of this submarine have also been saved. Groups have been trying to find a suitable place to display them in the city.

There was also USS Queen City commissioned in April 1863. It was ultimately destroyed by Confederate forces.

The mast stepping ceremony for the new USS Cincinnati will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and the christening will take place at 10 a.m.